Coach Wim Fissette ends collaboration with Zheng Qinwen amid rumored reunion with Naomi Osaka

While you were sleeping, the WTA Tour's coaching carousel started spinning again. Famed coach Wim Fissette has reportedly ended his collaboration with Zheng Qinwen amid a rumored reunion with Naomi Osaka, according to the 2022 WTA Newcomer of the Year herself.

Zheng revealed the news to reporters in the aftermath of beating compatriot Zhu Lin 6-2, 6-4 to win the gold medal at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

Chinese tennis writer Zhang Bendou reported the news, also posting on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, that Fissette was expected to join Zheng at the Asian Games. Per Zhang, with confirmation from Zheng's agent, Fissette made his decision to leave his role with Zheng just prior to leaving for China.

Zheng and Fissette started working together just prior to the start of the grass-court season, after she split with longtime coach Pere Riba (who, now famously, moved on to Coco Gauff). The partnership got off to a rocky start as Zheng lost her first three matches, including in the first round at Wimbledon, but quickly turned around in the summer.

Zheng won her first career WTA title on clay in Palermo after Wimbledon, and last month at the US Open, she reached her first career Grand Slam quarterfinal, upsetting defending finalist Ons Jabeur in the fourth round.

The rumored reunion between Fissette and Osaka will come more than a year after their first collaboration period ended. Fissette started with Osaka at the tail end of 2019, and the partnership debuted in 2020. Fissette was by Osaka's side for her 2020 US Open and 2021 Australian Open wins, but the pair split last July.

"It has been a privilege to coach Naomi since 2019 and see her grow into the champion she has become," Fissette wrote in an Instagram post last summer that purportedly ended their working relationship. "She has inspired a whole new generation to fall in love with the game & to speak up for what they believe in. It’s been incredible to play a part in that journey."

Osaka, meanwhile, was coached by her father Leonard Francois, who introduced her to tennis, through the end of the 2022 season. The four-time major champion announced her pregnancy in January, gave birth to daughter Shai in July, and told the media at the US Open that she plans to play a "heavy schedule" in 2024 beginning in the Australian summer.

Prior to Osaka, Fissette famously worked with fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters, and other major champions including Victoria Azarenka, Simona Halep and Angelique Kerber.